Satire in The Crucible
The Crucible is very similar to the events that occurred during the 1940s and 50s when Senator McCarthy accused many people that they were Communists in the American government. This event was similar to The Crucible because McCarthy began a witch hunt by accusing many people without any evidence or proof. Just like how in the novel the trials could not identify who was involved because they did not have any legitimate accusations.
Arthur Miller tried to use his novel to refer back to the McCarthy hearings by indicating many similarities between the two events. By doing so, he hoped people would understand how ridiculous the McCarthy hearings were by pointing out many ideas that were used during the hearings such as the huge hysteria created that made everyone fear the people around them that was also present during the Salem Witch Trials. Thus, Miller tried to show the American people the similarities between the two events and the truth behind the McCarthyism era.
Satire in The Crucible is therefore relevant because Miller is able to successfully use the fear of witchcraft in 1692 as a metaphor for the fear of communism in America during the 1940s and 50s.
Hey Ashley. Nice work on identifying the types of satire that was seen in The Crucible. I do agree on why he wrote it the way he did. In the past there were many instances of mass hysteria. The overlying fear in societies cause a group of people to go hysterical. Miller gives this example in order to show the truth of McCarthyism, as you mentioned above. Nonetheless, nice work.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point in saying that Arthur Miller used the Crucible as a wake up call because your'e right, people were accused with no actual evidence. And in today's world, everything must be proven with legitimate facts, not accusations. The famous saying, "innocent until proven guilty", is an example of this.
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